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ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK 

HEARING 

^ BEFORE THE 

^ "cOMmTTEE ON AGRICULTURE 

/I / 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ON 

ERADICATION OF THE CATTLE TICK 



JANUARY 3, 1913 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1913 






0. (IF D, 



i 




ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK, 



Committee on Agriculture, 

House of Representatives, 

Washington, D. C, January 3, 1913. 

The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., John Lamb (chairman) 
presiding. 

The Chairman. Gentlemen of the committee, we have with us 
this morning some gentlemen appearing in the interests of agricul- 
ture in the South, who wish to present to us their views touching 
appropriations for the eradication of the Texas fever tick. They 
ask for an increase of this appropriation over our estimates. These 
gentlemen have some newly discovered testimony, as a lawyer would 
say, I think. The committee will gladly hear from the gentlemen 
present. Who will you have first ? 

Mr. Clayton. I may suggest that our friend, Mr. Graham, of 
North Carolina, has been before the committee frequently hereto- 
fore on this same subject and he is present — he is commissioner of 
agriculture of that State; and Capt. Kolb, the commissioner of agri- 
culture of Alabama; then the commissioners of agriculture of Missis- 
sippi and the other Southern States, I believe, are all present here 
by their commissioners of agriculture or by somebody from the 
department of agriculture of their respective States. In addition 
to these gentlemen we have here present gentlemen whose business 
is of a scientific nature; that is veterinary surgeons. We have here 
Dr. Cary, of Alabama, a distinguished veterinary scientist, and I 
I would suggest that Capt. Kolb and Mr. Graham agree among 
themselves with their associates as to the order of the hearing. 

DR. C. A. CARY, STATE VETERIFARIAF OF ALABAMA, OF 

AUBURN, ALA. 

Dr. Cary. We held a meeting of our committee last night and 
we designated certain members of it who are scientific veterinarians 
and shall be glad if the committee will hear from them first. 

The Chairman. Capt. Cary, I wish to say to you that we have 
two hearings this morning and we can give you only until a quarter 
past 11 o'clock. 

Mr. Clayton. Dr. Cary tells me they have agreed on a program, 
and I suggest, Mr. Chairman, that Dr. Cary present that program 
and that this committee follow it in its hearings to-day. 

Dr. Cary. I will state to this committee that our committee 
which is appearing before you is a committee appointed by the 
Association of Southern Agriculturists at a meeting held at Raleigh 
the latter part of November, and we have arranged a definite order 
under which we wish to present this subject to you this morning. 

3 



4 ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

As our time is limited, it is not necessary for me to make any extended 
remarks. We have decided that Dr. Dalyrymple, of Louisiana, 
shall make the opening talk to you on the general subject of tick 
eradication in the South. 

DR. W. H. DALYRYMPLE, STATE VETERINARIAN OF LOUISIANA, 

BATON ROUGE, LA. 

Dr. Dalyrymple. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, 
I had the honor and privilege seven years ago of appearing before 
this committee, when the first appropriation was made for this tick- 
eradication work, and I wish to express our appreciation of the 
generosity of the committee and of the National Government in 
appropriating the money at that time. Since that time the South 
has cleared and placed in the free area something like 165,000 square 
miles of territory, notwithstanding the crude methods adopted then 
and the gross ignorance that prevailed among some of our people. 
It would seem almost ridiculous to mention some of those instances, 
but we find people, even to-day, who will tell you the Lord Almighty 
sent the ticks there and it is wrong to eradicate them. That will 
give you an idea of the class of people, or some of them, that we 
have to educate to-day. But these obstructions are being elimi- 
nated, and to-day our people are demanding this work. We are liere 
at the behest of our southern agriculturists to obtain, if possible, 
some more money to carry along this work. They wish the work 
carried along. They are asking us all the time now what we can do 
to get this tick eradicated and to enlist the assistance of the Govern- 
ment, and, as I remember, I believe Chairman Lamb was a member 
of that first committee when the precedent was set that those wlio 
helped themselves would get the help of the Federal appropriation, 
and I think that in some of the cases, some of the States are really 
spending more in their own States than the Federal Government is. 

This tick-eradication work is the simplest thing possible. I do not 
know of another disease that can absolutely be stamped out except 
this Texas fever, because it is, if you will permit the expression, a 
two-host organization; it requires two individuals through which 
to complete its life cycle, just like the yellow fever, which we stamped 
out in New Orleans in 1905, and by destroying the one host, the tick 
in this case, we simply cut short the fever. The very fact that 
165,000 square miles of territory has been cleared and is to-day in the 
free area is evidence of the fact that this thing can be done. It seems 
a pity to temporize with the thing, since it is possible to absolutely 
stamp it out. In the case of tuberculosis or any of those diseases 
we do not know just when it has been eradicated or how it can be 
absolutely eradicated, but this question of the Texas fever of cattle — 
and it is not a sectional question, it is a national question — it can be 
eradicated by the eradication of the ticks. This dipping-vat process 
with the standard arsenical solution is absolutely the thing to do it 
with. I might say it would be possible for a State, with the assist- 
ance of the National Government and with sufficient of those dipping 
vats for the process, following a regular system in the dipping in 
accordance with the life history of the ticks, to be absolutely cleared 
of ticks in one year. 



EEADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 5 

I said it was not a sectional question. We want the open markets 
of the country; that is, our one great aim is to get into the open 
markets and be on a level with every other section of the country. 
Some one said to me the other day that the high cost of living was 
due largely to the lack of production, the production not keepmg 
up with the consumption. This tick in the South is absolutely pro- 
hibiting us from producing our cattle and making sale of our live- 
stock products on the open market. We would not have this high 
price of cattle, $11 per hundred pounds, if the southern country were 
in a position to ship those animals to the market when ready for the 
market, but the Government has quarantines, and will continue to 
keep us under quarantine until this tick barrier is entirely removed. 
Another thing is, we can not import our animals from the North, and 
we have depended on the North for a number of years for our pure- 
grade animals, because of the fact the nonimmunes will get this tick 
fever when they come South. You see the northern section of the 
country has just as much interest in this matter, you might say, for 
many years to come, as our southern section of the country, and so 
I say it is not a sectional question. I remember that Secretary 
Wilson, before this committee seven years ago, mentioned the fact 
that this was a national question, but it is not only that, but it is 
also an international question, because this Texas fever first gave 
Germany an excuse to discriminate against our meat products. 

We have no competition with other sections of the country to-day 
in the meat markets of the world. We are allowed to ship cattle to 
the northern markets for perhaps two months at the very coldest 
time of the year — to the Chicago, St. Louis, and other markets. 
Those animals may be absolutely better than a western man's stock 
and may have no ticks on them, but, because they come from a tick- 
infected section of the country they are placed in sections of the 
stock yards and ticketed as southern cattle, and that means that the 
buyers will discriminate against those animals S3 to $5 per head. It 
is estimated that something like 1,000,000 head of cattle are shipf)ed 
from the South to the northern markets every vear, which shows 
that we are paying $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 tribute on account of 
this quarantine line, which could be wiped out, because the tick 
means the quarantine. So the object is to give one-third, you might 
say, of this great country of ours access to those markets that other 
people of the country have. 

Down in our country we are looking for immigration. A great 
many people are going down there. This great land show in Chicago, 
and tliat sort of thing, has got the people interested in that section 
of the country. We are getting people down there and they are the 
class of people we wish to get in our country — the progressive western 
stockmen. But when he hears about the cattle-tick business it 
simply stops him; he will not come. What encouragement would he 
have ? If he brings his fine stock down and the}^ get the ticks 
tliey will die of the Texas fever. On the other hand, if he succeeds 
in raising a carload or two in a year he can not get into market with 
them because of the quarantine. So we look upon it — the great com- 
mercial industries of the South, the railroads, and others, look upon 
it — as the greatest agricultural industrial problem before our country 
to-dav. 



6 EEADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

Mr. Magliee. To what use would you put this extra money you are 
asking for ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. It would be expended to have Federal men 
come down there and assist in the systematic work of getting rid of 
the ticks. 

Mr. Maguire. Just how would you do that? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. Just as it is being done now. The question 
relates to the number of men. 

The Chairman. Permit me to suggest that we recognize the 
importance of this work and have provided for it. We should like 
to have you gentlemen here direct .your arguments to the necessity 
of an increase in the appropriation, and likewise give us some infor- 
mation touching the cooperation of your States in this work. Those 
are the two points upon which we should like to hear from you. The 
time for this hearing is limited and therefore I make that suggestion. 
We appreciate your argument, but if you will pardon us we will 
suggest that we have heard all this before. 

Dr. Dalyrymple. You, Mr. Chairman, have heard it before, I 
know, but I do not know about these other gentlemen. The other 
gentlemen, from each State, I think will talk upon that matter. 

The Chairman. May I inquire what amount of money your State 
appropriated ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. We have been appropriating $5,000 a year for 
the last seven years, but then our counties or our parishes, as we call 
them, have been giving money, and they are providing means in the 
way of building the dipping vats to be used in this work. I can not 
give the exact figures — I have not got them — but that is the amount 
of State money. 

Mr. Hawley. Is the dipping compulsory ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. It is; yes. 

Mr. Hawley. Over what portion of the State ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. In our State it is compulsory in three of the 
northern parishes; it started on the northern tier of parishes, but we 
have carried the work forward in some of the interior parishes, and the. 
local people are expending the money for vats in order to educate the 
people in the value of the work. 

Mr. Hawley. How soon do you expect this whole State to be 
covered by this compulsory dipping law ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. We want more Federal men, we want five more, 
I believe, now. The estimates for the Department of Agriculture 
were made up in September before the real facts in this case were 
known, I believe. Some of these gentlemen, I think, will be able 
to show you that a great many more men will be required than were 
thought necessary at that time. It is not a question of any depart- 
ment of the Government wanting this. We want it, the people of 
the South want it. 

Mr. KuBEY. Do you not think $5,000 is a small sum for your State 
to give? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. Yes, sir; it is. That is the State appropriation. 
I might say that I worked 20 years to get a live-stock sanitary law. 
The first time we did not get any appropriation at all, but we are 
gradually working up to it; but the people themselves are expending 
money locally, which of course should be taken into consideration by 
the Federal Government in supplying us men. 



EKADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 7 

Mr. RuBEY. But you do not know how much that is in the 
aggregate ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. No, sir. We have one patch clear of ticks. We 
took advantage of the overflow of the river, and by compeUing the 
people to dip their cattle before they brought them back into the 
overflowed district we freed that district from the ticks. 

Mr. Hawley. Has your sanitary commission that power ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. Yes, sir; we have plenary power to promulgate 
any rules and regulations. 

Mr. Maguire. Are you in full charge of the work down there ? 

Dr. Dalyrymple. No, sir; I am a member of the board; we have 
our executive officer, in some States called the State veterinarian, I 
think. I give my advice, work, etc. I am connected with the State 
university. 

I think perhaps I have spoken long enough, and I thank the com- 
mittee. 

Dr. Gary. The next gentleman we should like the committee to 
hear is Mr. White, of Tennessee. 

G. R. WHITE, OF NATIONAL, TENN. 

Mr. White. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am 
not going to consume much of your time. I will say I am here in the 
interests of tick-eradication work in all the Southern States in general 
and in the interests of tick-eradication work in Tennessee in par- 
ticular. There is no doubt that there exists a shortage of at least 
10,000,000 cattle now to what there were 10 years ago. Something 
must be done in order to stimulate the cattle-raising industry in 
this country or in 5 or 10 years from now the cattle shortage will 
amount to prohibitive prices for beef. We are very anxious to 
stimulate this industry in the South by eradicating the Texas-fever 
ticks, which work is absolutely essential in order to stimulate that 
cattle-raising industry. I will say that in Tennessee this work 
started about seven years ago. At that time there were 51 counties 
in quarantine on account of this tick. I have a map here that wiU 
be an object lesson to the members of this committee. The counties 
marked in green represent the original quarantined counties in Ten- 
nessee ; that is, 51 . After seven years' work in tick eradication in this 
State we have eradicated ticks in 44 counties, and we have yet 7 
counties in quarantine on account of the presence of this tick. 

Mr. Hawley. You mean that you now have 44 counties absolutely 
free from the tick ? 

Mr. White. Yes. Now, gentlemen, if the ticks can be eradicated 
in 44 counties in Tennessee they can be eradicated in these other 7 
counties in that State, and if they can be eradicated in the whole 
State of Tennessee they can be eradicated in the States of Mississippi, 
Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and other States that are in 
quarantine at the present time. 

Mr. Hawley. Was your State badly infested with the ticks ? 

Mr. White. Just equally infected with Louisiana. 

Mr. Maguire. Did your State appropriate any money? 

Mr. White. Our State appropriates $8,000 by the State, and each 
county appropriates. We have spent last year four dollars for every 
doUar the Federal Government has spent, and I must say that the 



8 EEADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

expense of this work in the State and in the counties in Tennessee 
has amounted to something in the neighborhood of $30,000 a year. 

Mr. McLaughlin. Do you estimate a shortage of 10,000,000 cattle 
in the entire country ? 

Mr. White. 10,000,000 in the entire country. Six years ago we 
had 10,000,000 more cattle — 10,000,000 more beef cattle in the coun- 
try than we have to-day. 

Mr. McLaughlin. What is the shortage in the States that are 
infested with the ticks ? 

Mr. White. I could not answer that. I have not the figures by 
States. 

Mr. Maguire. Is it not true that shortage comes largely in the 
range country? 

Mr. White. It may be, but if we are 10,000,000 cattle short now, 
there will be a shortage of 15,000,000 five years from now. But, 
gentlemen, this whole question resolves itself into a question of men 
and money. There is nothing else to it, and we think that if these 
ticks can be eradicated from the Southern States in 5 years, there is 
no necessity to let this work drag along for 15, 20, or 25 years. 

Mr. Lever. What type of men do you use m the dipping process ? 

Mr. White. We use stockmen and good reliable men that are 
appointed by the county courts. 

Mr. Lever. At what salaries ? 

Mr. White. The county inspectors get $60 a month; the State 
inspectors get $75 a month; and the Federal Government inspectors, 
I do not know what they get. 

Now, gentlemen, that is the situation in Tennessee, and, of course, 
this appropriation will not affect us in particular, because we are 
going to eradicate the ticks within the next 12 months whether this 
increase in appropriation is made or not; but it will affect the other 
States to eradicate this tick, and we are very much interested in the 
eradication of this tick in the States south of Tennessee, because it 
will protect us from reinfestation. 

Mr. Hawley. Has any county which you cleaned out become 
reinf ested with ticks ? 

Mr. White. There never has; and I might say we have one county, 
one of the Georgia border counties, and we thought that had become 
reinfested, but we made a reinspection of all the cattle in that county 
and we found but two farms in the county that were infested with 
the tick. 

Mr. McLaughlin. After you have eradicated the ticks in a county 
can you let it alone ? Do you not have to continue the work ? 

Mr. White. We have to keep watch of it until we get it all clear 
south of there, but there is no way for it ever to become infested 
any more, unless ticky cattle are brought in. 

Mr. McLaughlin. Just one other question. You say you found 
the method of eradicating the ticks successful, and that it now is just 
a question of men and money ? 

Mr. White. That is all there is to it. 

Mr. McLaughlin. There is quite a strong feeling prevailing that 
when the Government has demonstrated the method of eradicating 
the ticks and has shown the people just how it can be done, and that 
it is reducible to a question of time and money, that it is then up to 
the local people to do the work themselves. 



EKADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 9 

Mr. White. That is for you people to say. 

Mr. McLaughlin. What do you think of it ? 

Mr. White. I do not think anything of it at all. I believe you 
folks ought to stay behind us and help us until we get out of it. 

Mr. Lever. Is it not a fact that the Government put you into it ? 

Mr. White. They put us into it, and we want them to help us 
out. 

Mr. McLaughlin. Who put you in ? 

Mr. White. The Federal Government put us in quarantine. 

Mr. McLaughlin. They did not put you into trouble. 

Mr. White. You will observe by reference to the last annual report 
of the Chief of the Federal Bureau of Animal Industry that there are 
10,000,000 head less beef cattle now than there were six years ago. 
This shortage of cattle plays an important part in the high cost of 
living at this time. Unless something radical is promptly done to 
stimulate cattle raising in the United States there will be no limit 
to the cattle shortage 5 or 10 years from now. In my opinion the 
whole population of this country must look to the Southern States 
for increased cattle production. Unless and until the southern cattle 
tick is eradicated profitable cattle raising in the Southern States is 
out of the question ; it is utterly impossible. With the tick eradicated 
there is no good reason why the Southern States could not raise 
10,000,000, 20,000,000 or even 50,000,000 more cattle annually, in 
which event the high cost of living, particularly the meat feature of it, 
would be solved. 

The Chief of your Bureau of Animal Industry says : 

The time has come when we must conserve our meat supply and take steps to 
increase it, and at the present remunerative prices for food animals it is probable that 
this will be gradually accomplished. Farmers generally, and especially those in the 
corn belt, should take advantage of the situation to develop cattle feeding under the 
present favorable conditions. The South has great possibilities for the future in this 
respect. The mild climate, the long grazing season, and the cheap land in this sec- 
tion make it highly suited for the purposes of beef production. This has been proved 
by the cattle-feeding experiments of this bureau in cooperation with the Alabama 
Experiment Station. There is, however, one drawback — the presence of the cattle 
tick. Fortunately this pest is being gradually but surely removed as a result of the 
energetic work of the Government and the several States involved . The development 
of cattle raising in the South should closely follow the extermination of the ticks. 

It was eight or nine years ago when Congress made its first appro- 
priation for this work. The results which we have accomplished in 
Tennessee should be an object lesson to the members of this com- 
mittee and should convince you and each of you of the great and 
crying necessity for an increased appropriation to push this work to 
completion at the earliest possible date. An increase of $500,000 
would be only a meager contribution on the part of the Federal 
Government to the Southern States in their present feeble though 
earnest struggle to eradicate this great handicap to their cattle- 
raising industry. 

When tick-eradication work started in Tennessee eight years ago 
we had 51 of the 96 counties in quarantine. Now we have only 
7 counties and parts of counties in quarantine. That means that, 
even though handicapped and hampered as we have been, ticks have 
been entirely eradicated in 44 counties. If ticks could be successfully 
eradicated in 44 counties in Tennessee, then they can be eradicated 
in these remaining 7 counties. If ticks can be eradicated from the 



10 EEADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

whole State Tennessee, then there is no reason why they can not be 
entirely eradicated from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 
Texas. Our results demonstrate to any thinking mind what can be 
done when the Federal Government cooperates, even to a slight 
degree, with the States and counties in their warfare against this 
parasite. If the Government aid had not been forthcoming, tick 
eradication would have never been taken up in Tennessee and long 
before now the whole State would have become infested and placed 
south of the quarantine line. We have already demonstrated the 
possibility and feasibility of tick eradication. The whole problem 
resolves itself into a question of, ''Men and money." Why allow it 
to drag along for 15 or 20 years when the task can easily be completed 
in 5 or 6 years, in which event every State in the Union will reap the 
economic benefits which will rapidly accrue therefrom ? 

Dr. Cary. We next wish to present Mr. Bahnsen, of Georgia. 

STATEMENT OF DR. P. F. BAHNSEN, OF ATLANTA, GA., VETERI- 
NARIAN OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA. 

Dr. Bahnsen. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, 
there is very little I could add to the statements which have already 
been made. In the State of Georgia we had, up to last year, a tick 
appropriation of only $500, and the Government spent mote money 
than the State did, and consequently the work in Georgia progressed 
very little last year, and I want to say that tick eradication was not 
popular to start with in the State of Georgia, and is not popular now 
with some people. They did not seem to think that the cattle tick 
hurt their cattle at all, and we sometimes find cattlemen even now 
in the tick belt who laugh at the idea that the cattle tick hurts cattle 
or is hurting the cattle industry. As a general rule, however, they 
have found it is essential to do this work, and they have generally 
taken hold of it now. Last year the last legislature appropriated 
$15,000 for extending the work of cattle tick eradication. In addi- 
tion each and every county we have has contributed very liberally 
or has made an appropriation. I will cite the example of Walker 
County, which is one of our border counties. The county com- 
missioners provided funds for constructing 32 dipping vats, and 
agreed to put them all in operation before June 1. That is only 
one county. Other counties have done nearly as well; not quite so 
well, but nearly as weU, and in addition to that they agreed to furnish 
us a man to do this work. We know this work has to be supervised 
by men who are trained veterinarians in order to get the results. The 
actual work, replying to question Mr. Lever just asked, is invariably 
done by just practical men that we employ as cattle inspectors; then 
they are supervised in their work by trained veterinarians; these 
trained veterinarians have been furnished by the Federal Govern- 
ment, but last year we only had 4 at our disposal, when, as a 
matter of fact, we should have had 14. No one man can look after 
more than one county. Next year we should have at least 20 
veterinary inspectors, in order to keep the work going, and unless 
we get an additional appropriation we are not going to be able to get 
more than 4, or possibly 5. 



ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 11 

Mr. Lever. Just how much additional appropriation do you want? 

Mr. Bahnsen. For the State of Georgia ? 

Mr. Levee. No; I mean for the entire country. 

Mr. Bahnsen. On yesterday, in conjunction with Dr. Melvin, the 
committee figured that out, and on a reasonable estimate we should 
have between $675,000 and 1750,000 in order to not hamper the 
work. Other States will speak for themselves. I am svn^e they will 
make the same statement we have made from Georgia. Last year 
our work was handicapped because we did not have the cooperation 
we really expected. 

Mr. RuBEY. How much money did your State get from the Gov- 
ernment last year ? 

Dr. Gary. $250,000. 

Mr. RuBEY. I mean, how much did the State of Georgia get ? 

Mr. Bahnsen. I think we got between $10,000 and $11,000. The 
State — that is, the State and the counties together — spent approxi- 
mately $3 to the Federal Government's $1. 

Mr. RuBEY. I notice here there was an appropriation last year of 
$250,000, and you say the State of Georgia, of that sum, got $10,000 
or $11,000? 

Mr. Bahnsen. The State of Georgia got $10,000 or $11,000. 

Mr. Lever. With this appropriation you are asking for,- if the 
committee should allow it and Congress should allow it, how long 
would it take you to clean up this infested territory ? 

Mr. Bahnsen. That was well stated by Dr. Dalyrymple. If w^e 
get sufficient cooperation so we can extend this work, then there 
would be no need of prolonging the work of tick eradication. Under 
such cooperation the fever ticks ought to be eradicated from the 
entire country in less than five years, if we get after it as we should. 
It is merely a question of men and money. 

Mr. Hawley. Have you the power, under the laws of the State of 
Georgia, to compel people to dip their cattle? 

Mr. Bahnsen. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Hawley. Suppose they do not dip, do you dip at their ex- 
pense and charge it to them or do you destroy the cattle ? 

Mr. Bahnsen. Our law gives us authority to quarantine their 
cattle and for compulsory dipping. If they fail to dip, we prose- 
cute them for a misdemeanor, and I want to say that the courts 
have backed us up in each of the instances. Whenever we get a 
man before the courts for a violation of the quarantine law they 
never fail to fine him. Of course, the fines are merely nominal — $10, 
$15, or $25, and costs — but we find in every instance it is sufficient to 
make them come right up. 

Mr. Hawley. The people fined, then, have their cattle dipped ? 

Mr. Bahnsen. Either that or they remove them without receiv- 
ing a permit. 

Mr. Hawley. I mean after you have prosecuted a man for not 
dipping his cattle and then he is fined, does he then dip his cattle ? 

Mr. Bahnsen. Yes, sir; they do not fail to do it after they have 
been through court once. 



12 EKADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

STATEMENT OF HON. R. F. KOIB, COMMISSIONER OF AGRI- 
CULTURE, OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA. 

Mr. KoLB. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I can 
only, in a few words, emphasize what Mr. White, of Tennessee, said — 
that the need of my State and of the whole South is more money and 
more men. The statistics of the United States show that over 
$5,000,000 was lost in Alabama by infested cattle. We are losing 
that much annually. I claim for my State of Alabama that we are 
doing more in the interest of agriculture, as a State, that is, in the 
appropriation of money by the State, than any other Southern State, 
if not more than any other State of the Union. Our last legislature 
appropriated $25,000 from the funds of my department for this 
farm demonstration work in conjunction with the United States 
Government Department of Agriculture. I pay those demonstrators 
every month three-fifths of their salaiy; the Government only pays 
two-fifths. In that way we are carrying on this great work in Ala- 
bama. It is the same way in the soil-survey work. Alabama is 
giving more money out of her treasury than any other State in the 
Union. 

The Chairman. Yes; you are right about that. 

Mr. KoLB. I know, because the funds come from my department. 
The Government puts in four surveyors in my State, and I put in 
four, and we are working four counties at a time, and we appropriated 
$10,000 for that purpose. We have no direct appropriation from 
the treasury or from my department for this tick eradication but, 
the counties are doing a great deal all over the State of Alabama 
and yet we are in this lamentable condition. 

Mr. RuBEY. Could you give us an estimate as to the amount the 
counties give for this purpose?. 

Mr. KoLB. I presume the whole State 

Mr. Cary (interposing). I think last year the counties gave about 
$25,000. 

Mr. KoLB. The counties gave about $25,000. In a great many of 
the counties they are building from 30 to 40 of these vats. 

Mr. RuBEY. Do you know how much the Government has appro- 
priated for Alabama ? 

Mr. Cary. Alabama got $6,000 to $8,000. 

Mr. KoLB. Now, gentlemen, it is up to you, and then to Congress, 
and you ought to relieve us, and I believe you will. 

Mr. Young. Do any of your individual cattle raisers have their 
own dipping vats ? 

Mr. KoLB. Yes, sir. I can cite you to one farmer, Mr. F. D. 
Derby, who has a large farm, and he offers $1,000 to any man who 
can find a tick on any of his cattle, and he raises a great many cattle. 
He has the ticks completely eradicated, and yet we have got the 
(Quarantine taken off of only one county, and that is not off yet, but 
it will be this month or next. 

Mr. Lever. What is the cost of these vats ? 

Mr. KoLB. From $25 to $75. 

Mr. McLaughlin. They average about $35 apiece. 

Mr. KoLB. What we want is the money and men to help us. We 
can raise as fine cattle in Alabama as can be raised anyv^here in the 
South or East, and we want help to let us get rid of the cattle ticks 



ERADICATION OP CATTLE TICK. 13 

Mr. Gary. We next wish to present Mr. Archibald Smith. 

STATEMENT OF MR. ARCHIBALD SMITH, OF THE STATE AGRI- 
CULTURAL COLLEGE OF MISSISSIPPI. 

Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I wish 
to outline to you very briefly the status of this work in our State. It 
began 5 years ago with an appropriation of $5,000 on the part of the 
legislature for 2 years. As a result of those 2 years' work the legis- 
lature then appropriated $40,000 for this work, and last year the 
legislature appropriated $35,000. We get a larger appropriation for 
this work than any other State in the country, and we are working a 
larger area and clean up more territory. As a result of our work we 
have 8 counties free from the ticks. 

Mr. Candler. State how much you get from the Government in 
Mississippi. 

Mr. Smith. This last year we got the services of 15 to 20 veteri- 
narians. I do not know what salaries are they paid. 

Mr. RuBEY. You do not know how much money the State of 
Mississippi received from the Government, do you ? 

Mr. Smith. It received the services of that many men — between 
15 and 20 men. 

Mr. Candler. Does this work probably get more from the State 
or more from the Government ? 

Mr. Smith. The State appropriates more money than the Federal 
Government, and the counties appropriate more money than the 
State. During these last two years the counties have expended a 
little over $150,000 for the building of vats alone, and the counties in 
Mississippi this last year expended a little over $50,000 in the em- 
ployment of inspectors, so that the counties are spending a great deal 
more money than either the State or the Federal Government. As a 
result of our work we have 8 counties above the quarantine line, and 
we have an area equal to about 8 or 10 counties ready to be released 
now. 

Gentlemen, this is a much more serious problem with us than it is in 
some other sections, because over one-half of the State of Mississippi 
is infested with the boll weevil. That means that cotton growing 
with us is less profitable. We have a great number of men in the 
employ of the Federal Government in that section of the country 
teaching the farmers better systems of farming and advising them to 
grow other crops than cotton, and so on. All we want to do, gentle- 
men, is to get permission to enable these farmers to utilize the oppor- 
tunities they have. In other words, we want to exterminate the 
cattle tick, so when they grow these other crops than cotton they will 
have some means to utilize them. If we had the cattle tick out of 
that country it would beat the great feeding grounds of the cheap- 
raised cattle of the West. Last year the board had money to appoint 
men in 22 counties. There were over 30 counties asking for men that 
we could not help and that the Federal Government could not help. 
Gentlemen, we want to help the men in these other 30 counties. We 
are carriyng on the work now in over 50 counties in Mississippi, but 
we only have direct appropriations to help them in 20 counties. We 
want to help these other 30 counties, and, gentlemen, if you knew the 
conditions in these boll-weevil areas in that country, if you knew its 



14 EKADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

influence on land values, you would not hesitate to be very generous 
in your recommendations. I look upon this appropriation as being 
very different from an ordinary appropriation. It is not one that 
will continue indefinitely or increase from year to year. If you follow 
your present custom you are eventually going to appropriate money 
enough to eradicate the ticks, and it is only a matter of appropriating 
more money than you have heretofore done and to do it at an earlier 
date and give these people more immediate relief. We want 30 more 
men in Mississippi to help these farmers, especially in the boll-weevil 
areas. 

Mr. Candler. I see from the estimates that these salaries range 
from $1,800 to $2,250. The average salary, we will say, would be 
$2,000. If we had 16 men in Mississippi we would have to have 
somewhere between $24,000 to $30,000 from the Government. 

Mr. Smith. Yes, and I may say that those veterinarians start in 
at $1,400 each, and their salaries are gradually increased, and the 
veterinarians used for this purpose are usually new men, who are not 
high priced. 

Mr. Candler. Then from your statement that we had about 15 
men we are evidently doing more for ourselves than the Govern- 
ment is doing for us in Mississippi, is not that true? 

Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. And this one point I should like to impress 
on you, that even though the State and the counties appropriate 
enough money to clean up the States, we still could not get it released 
until the Federal Government provides a sufficient number of men 
to supervise each county and report its condition to the Federal 
bureau. In other words, the quarantine has to be released by the 
Federal Government and can not be released until your men super- 
vise that district and know it is clean. So we can not make pro- 
gress much faster than you will furnish men to supervise the areas 
that we clean up. Your men only act in that capacity. They have 
sort of general direction of the work, and the Federal Government 
practically has supervision of the expenditure of all the money ap- 
propriated by the counties and by the State as well as by the Fed- 
eral Government. 

Mr. Candler. In addition to that, when you once clean it up and 
the quarantine line is placed above it, and the territory that is 
cleaned up of the cattle tick is brought below it, then that appropria- 
tion for that part ceases, and ceases forever, does it not ? 

Mr. Smith. It ceases then. The counties then provide inspectors 
to see that the country is properly policed from further infection. 
As soon as the county is released, then the Federal expenses cease. 

Mr. Candler. Then the larger the appropriation is, the more 
territory you can free from the cattle tick, and it is not a continuing 
appropriation ? 

Mr. Smith. No, sir; we could clean up the whole State of Missis- 
sippi next year if we could get help enough to do it. The sentiment 
of the people is very much in favor of it. 



ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 15 

Mr. Gary. The next man we wish to introduce is Dr. Dawson. 

STATEMENT OF DR. C. F. DAWSON, STATE VETERINARIAN, OF 
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. 

Dr. Dawson, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: I 
represent the State which has done nothing whatever in tick eradica- 
tion. We are the only State which is wholly south of the quarantine 
limitation. That means we have no counties, no section, from which 
we can ship cattle unrestrictedly to the northern markets. 

I shall be very brief, because there are gentlemen here who can tell 
3^ou more about eradication from a practical standpoint than I can, 
because they have had experience. 

We have in Florida about 850,000 animals — about the same number 
of animals as people, and the same number of swine. We lose annu- 
ally about 3 per cent of our cattle, which means an annual loss of 
$25,000, estimating the animal to be worth only $10 a head. I wish 
to say that our State has only recently become particularly interested 
in the subject of tick eradication. One month ago we met and started 
the agitation for this purpose, and I think I am not making a mis- 
statement when I say that our State mil make probably a $5,000 
appropriation for beginning this work. This money will come either 
from the State board of health funds or be directly appropriated by 
the legislature. In our State the State board of health has to do with 
not only diseases of people, but also with those of animals, and this 
work is done like it is in most any other State in the Union, and 
Dr. Porter, the State health officer, is very much interested in tick 
eradication; and I think that board itself has the power to set aside 
a sum of money equal to what other States have begun with to start 
tick eradication. 

There are other gentlemen here who can tell you more than I can 
about certain things. I simply wanted to tell you what our State 
of Florida would probably do, and will do, in regard to this subject. 

Mr. Hawley. You have the ticks, have you ? 

Mr. Dawson. We have the ticks, and I believe the tick probably 
first entered the United States at St. Augustine, Fla. It is now all 
over the State. I know of no section in the State where there are 
no ticks. We have another disease known as ^'salt sick," which I 
believe will disappear w^hen we get rid of the tick, because the cattle 
sticcumb to the so-called salt sickness in the fall of the year when the 
pasturage is poor and ticks are worse. Other than this we are 
singularly free of animal diseases. We have no anthrax, no black leg, 
and very little tuberculosis, except in the daries around the cities. 
The native cattle of Florida are singularly free of tuberculosis, so 
this one disease is the one which troubles us the most, this Texas 
fever, and I believe — in fact, I know — that if we get rid of it Florida 
will become one of the greatest cattle-raising States in the United 
States, because of our climate, which is not severe. There is no 
absolute winter climate there such as will kill cattle. 

Mr. Candler. It is a great State, I know. I was born there. 



16 EEADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

Dr. Gary. I wish to introduce Mr. Chrisman, of North Carolina. 

STATEMENT OF DR. W. G. CHRISMAN, STATE VETERINARIAN 
OF NORTH CAROLINA, RALEIGH, N. C. 

Dr. Chrism AN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I am representing 
not only the State of North Carolma, but all the Southern States 
interested in tick eradication, and that includes one of the biggest 
problems now before the live-stock men and agricultural men of 
the South. I hold in my hand this morning a map which shows 
conditions in North Carolina. West of this black line is the terri- 
tory which has been freed from ticks. From this part of the State 
we can ship cattle to any market in the United States without any 
restrictions; from this other part of North Carolina we can not 
send cattle to the open markets in this country or in any other 
country, because here the Federal quarantine line exists. All of 
this territory is filled with ticks, and we can not ship our cattle 
from there. The problem we have to-day is that of money and 
men. Give us money and men and then we can eradicate the tick 
from this section of North Carolina and can send our cattle all over 
the United States to our big markets. 

Mr. RuBEY. Was the western part of the State infested originally ? 

Dr. Chrisman. Yes, sir; this was infested, and this part [indi- 
catuig] is left yet for us to clean up. The proposition now is money 
and men. We want an additional force of five men from the Gov- 
ernment to supervise the work that our State men will do, because 
our State is appro priatmg about $10,000, and will appropriate 
more money at this present meeting of the legislature, and in the 
future we will liave more money to work with, but we want the 
United States Government men to supervise the work of our State 
men, because they are not trained men; they are simply business- 
like farmers and practical stockmen who can drive cattle to a dipping 
vat and see that it is done, but they want a veterinarian, trained in 
his work, to know that H is properly done. 

Mr. Candler. Another necessity for having men from the Gov- 
ernment is the fact that you can not get any territory released from 
the quarantine until it is approved by the inspectors from the Gov- 
ernment, is it not ? 

Dr. Chrisman. No; we can not, no matter how much work the 
State does or what we say about the work; whether our territory is 
clean or not, they will not take our statements until the Federal men 
call and see the condition. That is the proviso you have made, and 
perhaps it is a wise one. We have commissioned the United States in- 
spectors so they have double authority. They have the authority 
which is vested in them by their commissions, given them by the 
Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, and Secretary Graham 
gives them a State commission, so your men you send there can 
prosecute a violator in our courts, and also in the United States 
courts, and we take up our violations and prosecute the men in our 
courts. 

Mr. EuBEY. How much did the State of North Carolina get from 
the United States Government last year ? 

Dr. Chrisman. Between $6,000 and $7,000 last year. I might say 
that we have not failed of a prosecution in our State of any man who 
has violated the provisions of this law^ 



ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 17 

Mr. Young. How many years have you been at that work ? 

Dr. Chrisman. About eight years. After we have once cleaned 
up a county the ticks do not reappear, because we keep our force 
on that Kne watching that all the time. Our State does that. 

STATEMENT OF DR. J. F. STAMFORD, STATE VETERINARIAN 
OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. 

Dr. Stamford. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Agriculture 
Committee, I wish to say for the State of Arkansas that we are making 
rapid progress toward complete tick eradication. We have now 
within our State an area consisting of 11,003 square miles free from 
tick infestation, and to-day above the national quarantine line. I 
wish also to state that 1,161 of these square miles was freed from 
tick infestation through free contributions from our land owners, 
planters, and citizens. Not one cent was sent there from the State 
at large, or from the United States Government. 

Mr. KuBEY. Do you mean you have not had anv money sent at 
all? 

Dr. Stamford. I mean in these 1,161 square miles. We spend 
annually about $15,000. 

Mr. RuBEY. How much did you get from the Federal Government 
last year ? 

Dr. Stamford. About $10,000. Three thousand dollars of this 
$15,000 was from private contributions, made up by the citizens 
and land owners in the section of country previously engaged almost 
exclusively in growing cotton. They have found that the one con- 
tinuous one-crop method, that of growing cotton, is detrimental to 
that great agricultural interest. What we want now is an increased 
appropriation from the fact that we are receiving demands and plead- 
ings from citizens in counties far off from our present fixed eradica- 
tion districts, asking us to take up the work in their midst. Congress 
in the past has aided greatly the South in removing this, the only 
hindrance to our agricultural pursuits, but the work has far out- 
grown the appropriations made by Congress in the past, and we 
now ask that you increase this appropriation in proportion to the 
demand of the work. 

I believe our time is about up, in fact my time was called ahead of 
the hour we were given, so this is all I shall have time to say. I 
thank the committee for their attention. 

Mr. Gary. Mr. Chairman, will you just give me a moment to close 
this hearing ? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Gary. As chairman of the Southern Agricultural Workers^ 
that brought this work before you, we met with the Chief of the 
Bin-eau of Animal Industry and with the Secretary of Agriculture 
yesterday and w^ent over the estimates we had made to you in 
September, and also get reports from the various States as to their 
wants for the coming year. We find, in adding up the estimates of 
wants of men in all the different States, that the sum total was 150 
veterinarians for the entire South for the coming year; that includes 
States you have not heard from to-day, such as South Carolina, Okla- 
homa, Texas, etc. These 150 men, as figured by the department, 
will call for about $375,000 to $400,000 additional. That is what 
73114—13 2 



18 ERADICATION OF CATTLE TICK. 

it means. There is no use, as has been said here to-day, in tempo- 
rizing with this. If we are going to do it, let us do it and get through 
with it. We can do it in a few years if we put the men behind the work. 

One word more. This work has been going on along the northern 
line of counties. Along this line the work has progressed rapidly, but 
from now on it will require work the year around, instead of work just 
in the summer. The men can be set on the work full time, and there 
will be a little more expense in connection with each man. The}^ 
figured yesterday that it would take $2,500 to put one of these men 
in the South for a year, so we have about 150 required for the full 
year, and the estimate of the department was about $400,000 extra. 

Mr. Candt.er. At the first hearing had before this committee, 
away back yonder, in reference to this question, it was shown at that 
time by the statistics that the difference in the value of cattle in the 
South, by reason of the cattle tick, was a loss to the South of some 
$60,000,000; that was the estimate. Do you know how much is 
cleaned up now, and what the proportion is now ? 

Mr. Caey. About one-third of the infested area is cleaned up, 
about 70,000 square miles, about one-third. 

Mr. RuBEY. JHow long have you been in doing that? 

Mr. Gary. We have been doing that about six years, but a good 
deal of this work has been pioneer work, as they had to teach the 
people a great many things that will be much easier for them from 
now on. 

Mr. Ruby. Cleaned up one-fourth ? 

Mr. Gary. I only gave the estimate as made by the department; 
that is what is claimed in the report. 

Mr. Maguire. I should like to ask of you, as an expert and a 
veterinarian, whether you have arrived at the bset methods of eradi- 
cating the tick, or is it simply still in the experimental stage ? 

Mr. Gary. It is no experiment at aU; it is a positive, definite 
method, and actually doing the work thoroughly and completely. 
There is no doubt about the method any more. 

Mr. Gandler. If these original estimates were correct, that 
$60,000,000 was lost to the South, and there is one-third cleaned up, 
there is still a loss of at least $40,000,000 a year. 

Mr. Gary. Yes; no doubt. That is probably a low estimate, 
because the class of cattle has improved since that first estimate was 
made. 

Mr. RuBEY. I want to ask, for information, what kind of cattle you 
have in the South. Do you feed cattle for the market in the South ? 

Mr. Gary. Some. 

Mr. RuBEY. What is the average weight of a steer that is ready for 
the market ? 

Mr. Gary. The average weight of a steer that comes off the range 
runs anywhere from 600 to 700 pounds. 

Mr. RuBEY. The feeding steer when you ship him to market, will 
he average 1,000 pounds? 

Mr. Gary. About that, I judge. 

Mr. RuBEY. About 1,000 pounds? 

Mr. Gary. The steer, the steer where they feed him ? 

Mr. RuBEY, That is what I mean, a fed steer. 

Mr. Gary. Yes; some of those wih run that. That might be a 
little high for an average, but somewhere near that. We thank you, 
gentlemen, for the hearing. 






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